Most firms are pretty confident about identifying their competition: it’s the companies they recruit their people from, or the big incumbents they try to steal market share from.
In reality, it’s not always that simple. Often, the biggest rival is not a who, but a what. A far greater adversary than the retained firm is convincing clients to switch to you. We’ll call this enemy ‘Do Nothing’.
Right now, Do Nothing is crippling your new business pipeline. Individuals and businesses that ought to be switching firms are stagnating. You don’t need me to tell you this is a really common scenario in financial services.
Lots of firms make the mistake of bigging up their bells, whistles, features and functions when they ought to be demonstrating what they’re like to work with
Poor satisfaction
Only last year, a Xero survey of 1,500 SMEs revealed that while 80% have an external accountant or bookkeeper, an overwhelming majority (70%) would not recommend them to others. Lack of support, limited industry knowledge and being made to feel low priority were the top three complaints. A third (34%) even warned other SMEs to avoid their accountant. And yet only 27% said they were likely to switch away from their retained firm.
Why? Well, what’s happening is that clients are writing off their issues as not important enough to waste time solving, or they’re put off because of the perceived hassle of switching firms. As a result, they will just muddle on as they are.
You can understand why. Change is risky. The fear of what they may lose if they make a poor switching decision is causing inaction. They may not understand the impact on their bottom line of retaining a lacklustre firm. Either way, Do Nothing keeps client bases intact and saps the volume of new business leads for firms.
Remove the friction
The good news is that Do Nothing needn’t be a peerless competitor: it is perfectly beatable with careful strategy. In short, that strategy involves discovering all the possible areas of friction and then systematically removing them.
By producing content focused on those areas of friction you can move a potential customer through all the stages of the buyer journey fast and painlessly, and help them conclude that switching to you is a wise choice.
The task is to show them a tangible route from where they are right now (‘I have a problem’) to where they need to get to (‘Solved!’)
Let’s assume that these prospects are aware they have a problem with their current firm. Now they’ll want to know: ‘How should I begin to fix this?’ That won’t mean they immediately start shopping for a specific service – their heads are simply not in the right place yet.
Offer an escape route
At this stage, the task is to show them a tangible route from where they are right now (‘I have a problem’) to where they need to get to (‘Solved!’). It’s far more about process than product. You should be giving them what they need to make steady progress towards their goals.
Next, they’ll start weighing up their options: ‘What is available to help me?’ They are now into the process of longlisting and then shortlisting firms. Your job is to get on that list as a preferred solution. This means positioning your firm’s offerings as meaningfully different and better in the market.
Then they’ll look to narrow it down further: ‘Who is the best firm to work with?’ At this stage, lots of firms make the mistake of bigging up their bells, whistles, features and functions when, in fact, they ought to be demonstrating what they’re like to work with.
Apply empathy
You need to show evidence that you understand what it’s like to be in the client’s shoes. You will have valuable insights into how to reduce their tax liability, avoid penalties and fines, save them time or help them to grow.
Your strategy to nullify Do Nothing needs to continue far beyond the point of signing a new client. Because the next thing they’ll be thinking is: ‘Does this firm deliver and should I retain them?’ Here, you need to make them feel they’ve made an excellent decision, and that all their worries and fears were unfounded. They will soon (sooner than you might think) start to scrutinise how you’re doing, so you need to be making them happy not just straightaway but constantly.
A client’s early experience with your firm will have a lasting impact on their lifetime value. In my experience, firms that have high churn at review and renewal are those that fail to engage the client throughout the lifecycle of the account. But if a client can see you genuinely care about their success, it will be exponentially harder for a competitor to displace you.
Further information
Watch this video on how to serve your clients’ broader needs
